Officials with the Dane County Humane Society are asking for help after receiving several horses from two different surrender situations.�

The Humane Society currently owns 16 horses that have care, medical or behavior needs, they said.

Some of these horses are available for adoption now, and some will be in the future, spokeswoman Gayle Viney said.

On April 29, a man that had been evicted from his living situation and was homeless surrendered eight horses to the Humane Society. Of the eight, six are currently available for adoption.

"DCHS also currently owns eight horses from the Mary Loeffelholz case," Viney said.

These animals are still being assessed and are not available to be adopted at this time, Viney said.

The remaining horses were surrendered by an Oregon farm owner after Animal Services officials determined the horses were in poor health.

The Animal Services section of Public Health -- Madison and Dane County said it has facilitated the voluntary surrender of unhealthy horses from a Town of Oregon horse owner.

Animal Services officials said they have been working with the horse owner since February. Officials said they made multiple visits to the property to assess the condition of the horses and to work with the owner to improve their well-being.

PHMDC said Monday that nearly half of the horses that had been kept on the property have been surrendered, and those horses have been placed in new homes where they will receive proper care and continue to be monitored.

PHMDC officials said they are continuing to work with the owner to find new homes for the remaining horses.

The horses that have been voluntarily surrendered and relocated to this point have included horses initially determined to be in the poorest health, PHMDC officials said.

An Oregon High School student with autism is urging his peers to stop using a hurtful word.

"(Kids in school) said, 'You're a retard. You are,'" said David Thompson, a junior at Oregon High School. "And I said, 'Excuse me?'"

Living with autism, Thompson said he has felt the pain of the "R" word too many times to stay quiet. It's why he is urging his peers to "Spread the Word to End the Word."

On Wednesday, Thompson gave a speech to several of his peers at school.

"I was nervous," Thompson said of the speech. "I couldn't sleep last night."

"Five years ago, I would have never in a million years imagined that David would even consider doing something like this," said his mother, Amy Verheyden. "He would come home from school and say, 'Mom, somebody called me ... ' and he would say the word."

In his speech, Thompson told his fellow students that he wants a change at Oregon High School.